I've read this story a few times before but never found any photos of the event until this article.
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The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
31–40 of 141 posts
Re: The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
#32Archive: https://archive.md/vj1oF I'm not one to bother with archive snapshots, but this site is particularly infuriating with it's attempt to prevent text selection.
Reader mode or add-ons like Absolute Enable Right Click & Copy (Firefox) puts these types of websites in their place...
Re: The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
#33To anyone who is interested in this stuff I would strongly recommend the book “Skunk Works” by Ben Rich. Full of interesting history about stealth planes, and a masterclass on how to run a ragtag company.
Yes. A wonderful read. So good I read it again!
Re: The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also Kelly Johnsons book “More than my share of it all”. Kelly designed the SR71 and U2 and brought them in on time and under budget.
As a side note, Kelly Johnson really did have more than his share of it all. Head of Skunk Works, during which he had 2 wives who died from health issues over the course of 20 years. As someone with a partner who had years of health problems, I have no idea how you run something like Skunk Works and care for someone at the same time.
Yeah that’s right. He started a foundation to provide long term hospice care in a setting that would allow relatives to be with their loved ones for extended periods - based on his own experience. I’m not sure what happened to it - could not find with a quick Google. But it’s mentioned at the end of his book.
Re: The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
#35Very interesting article. Did anyone else notice the website? If you try to select the text, either double-tap or right clicking brings up a indicator "web site protected"
Just turn off javascript if you want to copy and paste. It's a pretty hostile and anti user design.
Re: The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
#36SR-71 speed check
One time we were going fast
a small plane got on the radio and said "how fast am i going"
the tower said "you are going fast"
and then a bigger plane got on the radio and said "haha i think i am going faster how fast am i going"
and the tower said "you are going a little faster"
and then a jet fighter was going really fast and talked like a really cool guy and said "hey there, I sound like a cool guy, tell me how fast I'm going"
and the tower said "you are going very fast" but he sounded totally normal
And then I wanted to say something but that was against the rules, and then the other guy in my plane said "hey tower, are we going fast"
and the tower said "yes you are going like a million fast" and then the guy in my plane said "I think it's a million and one fast" and then the tower said "lol yeah ur plane is good"
and then I said "did we just become best friends"
and the other guy said "yes"
Re: The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
#37Stick and Rudder is the best read out there if you want an intuitive pilots understanding of what happened here. It unpacks angle of attack from a pilots perspective rather than using engineer speak. At that speed the control surfaces of the Blackbird would have had very little effect which is incredibly scary as you’re approaching a stall low and slow. They’d need big deflections to keep her straight and it would ha…
A similar thing happens with boats --- the rudder only has an effect when water is moving past it, so it's more difficult to maneuver when moving slowly.
That’s right. The significance for pilots is that, with low airflow over control surfaces which gives a mushy feel, you also have a high angle of attack which means you are approaching stall as flow over the wing separates. So the plane is harder to control but you’re also about to fall out of the sky.
Stalls can also occur at higher speed in high g maneuvers, so mushiness isn’t the only indicator of approaching a stall. But it’s pretty reliable in straight and level flight.
Re: The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
#38SR-71 speed check One time we were going fast a small plane got on the radio and said "how fast am i going" the tower said "you are going fast" and then a bigger plane got on the radio and said "haha i think i am going faster how fast am i going" and the tower said "you are going a little faster" and then a jet fighter was going really fast and talked like a really cool guy and said "hey there, I sound like a cool gu…
you know how some people have a talent for story-telling, painting vivid landscapes and heroic deeds with words and prose?
you have a talent for story-telling, but sort of from the opposite end of the spectrum; you sucked all of the heroism and bravado out of the story without actually misrepresenting any of the facets of it.
nice work.
Re: The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
#39SR-71 speed check One time we were going fast a small plane got on the radio and said "how fast am i going" the tower said "you are going fast" and then a bigger plane got on the radio and said "haha i think i am going faster how fast am i going" and the tower said "you are going a little faster" and then a jet fighter was going really fast and talked like a really cool guy and said "hey there, I sound like a cool gu…
For reference, this: https://www.reddit.com/r/SR71/comments/2dpmw7/the_sr71_speed... is a story that amateur jet fighter enthusiasts have copy-pasted to every edge of the internet, to the point of everyone cringing when they see it.
Re: The slowest SR-71 Blackbird fly-by
#40SR-71 speed check One time we were going fast a small plane got on the radio and said "how fast am i going" the tower said "you are going fast" and then a bigger plane got on the radio and said "haha i think i am going faster how fast am i going" and the tower said "you are going a little faster" and then a jet fighter was going really fast and talked like a really cool guy and said "hey there, I sound like a cool gu…
you know how some people have a talent for story-telling, painting vivid landscapes and heroic deeds with words and prose? you have a talent for story-telling, but sort of from the opposite end of the spectrum; you sucked all of the heroism and bravado out of the story without actually misrepresenting any of the facets of it. nice work.
Not to denigrate OP, but this reduced version has become a bit of a copypasta meme of its own.